Sunday, December 2, 2012

More from Fort Stevens SP.

As I mentioned in my last Snowy Owl-filled post, I decided to stick around Fort Stevens because the weather was surprisingly nice. After the jetty I drove up to the Columbia River parking area and walked the dogs around the beach. Right away a Red-throated Loon popped out of the water:

I took a photo of jellyfish only to find when I got home that my lens cap photobombed the shot.

There were some Sanderlings and Dunlin scattered along the shoreline but I'm not certain what birds made up this swarm I saw...

Next we headed to Coffenbury Lake to hike one of the nice woodsy trails around the lake. It was pouring when we arrived but after waiting a few minutes it stopped completely and the sun came out yet again.

The trees were filled with Steller's Jays, kinglets, and chickadees, while the lake was filled with Ring-necked Ducks, Bufflehead, and Hooded Mergansers...

Back to the trees, a squirrel was chattering away arousing the curiosity of the mutts. I told him to be quiet and the dogs would not eat him. He listened.

Nearby a Pacific Wren was also chattering but I did not tell him to be quiet.

There were lots of mushrooms around that I am guessing Michele would have liked:

A couple times during our walk I would hear flocks of small birds overhead, unsure of what they were. Just as we were making our way back to the car I realized they had been Red Crossbills:

I was driving away from the lake down the park road towards the exit when I saw something on the side of the road that looked like a bird- indeed it was a young Peregrine with what I thought was a fresh kill:

I gave the Peregrine as wide a berth as possible on the road but unfortunately spooked it anyway...

So like I said, I had thought it was a fresh kill. Turns out, this Ring-necked Duck was still kickin.

He hobbled up onto the grass while I watched. After a minute or so I figured I was preventing the falcon from returning and I did not want to watch this bird suffer anymore, so I took off. I really hope the falcon (or another animal) came back to finish the job.

awww damn, that would upset me like crazy! I hope somehow he managed to survive..YEAH on the loon! All your birdy shots today were super..Never had the pleasure of seeing a crossbill..so Kodos on that one too!!LOVE that shot of your pups....they look so cute!